New Q&A stuff from AA's site

[hellpop]

So did anyone else read the loooooooooong rant and Chuck's insightful answer in his Sci-Fi Q&A this week? Kind of amazing. I give Chuck credit for generally being more upfront in his answers then most (ie "we never thought about completing the New Mutants, but maybe we will now"), but this went above and beyond. I swear, these Sci-Fi guys make us look like prim little school girls. Chuck must love hearing from us; we don't even bug him about Kang that much any more (we should get back on that).

I think the problem that A LOT of collector communities have is understanding that they are a niche market, no matter the property, except for Star Wars (and I suppose Matchbox and WWE, though I must admit I don't really follow those communities, so I don't really know). I used to hang out over at Action Figure Insider regularly, but I finally got fed up with the constant kvetching that Mattel wasn't doing enough to support the Justice League Unlimited line-- even though they'd kept it alive long after the show had ended, which is pretty amazing. The reality is that the fan base just isn't that big, but the fan base doesn't want to see that. They think everyone wants to buy JLU action figures, and if that darn ol' Mattel would stop holding the line back, everything would be sunshine and lollipops.

If Star Trek fans really think there's some huge untapped potential for Voyager action figures they are absolutely f'ing fooling themselves. And we, the Minimate community here, do a pretty good job of being realistic, I think. We don't expect Toys R Us to replace the WWE aisle with the Minimates aisle. When we complain about getting more Spider-Men, it's because we don't want any more Spider-Men, not because we think that Quasar or the Wrecker or Ka-Zar or whatever pet character we champion will outsell Spider-Man. We're realists, and we're positive, which is pretty darn refreshing in a niche collectible community.

Anyway. Just felt like ranting, I guess.

[groundhog7s]

So did anyone else read the loooooooooong rant and Chuck's insightful answer in his Sci-Fi Q&A this week?

I did.

[hellpop]

So did anyone else read the loooooooooong rant and Chuck's insightful answer in his Sci-Fi Q&A this week?

I did.

Yeah, I saw that.

Took me longer to type my post then it did yours, I guess. :biggrin:

[TBT!]

I think the nearest we get to Trek crazyness here is our ( Seemingly collective) opinion that the trek minimates died because they went one line to many with the classic trek retreads and therefore when they did produce some Next Gen stuff no one prepordered because they were still overstocked with the unsold wave 3, something that I think Chuck now knows but will never admit publicly.

I have to say It sounds like that guy pushed one to many of Chucks buttons, Chuck does this occasionally, a blow out of sorts where he lets off some steam that seems just on the edge of being polite. Good for him I say, he is right, DST might not be perfect but they are professional toymakers that are still in business so must be doing something right.

T.

[buttheadsmate]

An amazingly eloquent question & an equally amazing answer.

[storm 1:08]

Okay, it's not Minimate news, but the Sci-Fi Q&A was reallllllly interesting today. If you've got a good half hour or so, you can read the fifth question and see why Chuck deserves some cookies when you see him.

I don't want to give Chuck a cookie, I just want to give him a hug right about now.

And we all know, including Chuck, what the perfect minimate wave would be. It's obviously a strict all Spidey wave. No Spidey foes or Spidey friends. Just Spidey.

[buttheadsmate]

Somebody gave Chuck a rubber cookie at SDCC .....although he failed to fall for it. I can't remember who it was but it was a childish immature prank that no-one here would be proud of .

[TM2 Dinobot]

You know, I find it interesting. I've always thought we here at MMMV have had an unprecedented ear of DST, and in the beginning we accounted for something like 25% of total sales. Now it has gone way down, but I still think that we are maybe 12%, which is higher than Transformer fans who honest to goodness think they are 78% of sales. Dillweeds...

Anyways, I just have to give props to DST for listening to a bunch of kooks on a toy forum about a line that no one used to care about, and now that it's bigger, they still listen.

[karamazov80]

Very interesting exchange there. Many toy fans do appear, amongst other things, entitled, myopic, and to lack patience and a filter on what they say. Like children in many ways. Some exclusive Hot Toys figures are coming out soon, and earlier today I was struck by the sense of entitlement people were displaying on another forum--"how could those Asians not release these Batman figure to us Americans--the ones who made Batman and who buy Batman stuff?? They are in debt to us for all we've done for them," etc. etc. Just silly.

[Nessex]

was that a direct quote?

'how could those Asians not release these Batman figure to us Americans'

if i had read that on a message board, i'd have ripped off the members head and sh@t down his neck! That kind of talk is just totally uncool.

Some people seem to forget that in the pursuit of toys, we are ALL desperate fan boys - regardless of nationality (not that 'Asia' is actually a nation)

Anyway - back on track: Kudos to Chuck for giving us regular answers to our fan-boy questions . . . even if they are answers we sometimes don't wanna hear. It's better than no answer at all (which is what you'd get from most toy manufacturers).

[hellpop]

I'm often astounded at the amount of anger displayed by toy collectors on a lot of boards, as if they (we) are owed something by the toy companies, other then their figures. And unfortunately the guys that make themselves accessible, like Chuck and Jesse Falcon, take the brunt of it.

I can't say that I'm entirely blameless; I once went off on Jesse Falcon and the rest of the Toy Biz/Marvel Toys team after the abrupt end to the Legendary Comic Book Heroes series. One of the mods there quite rightly put me in my place, saying that however disappointed I was to not get my toys, it's nothing compared to the feelings of the guys that actually worked on that line. That really hit home for me, and I publicly apologized.

It's not like Chuck's trying to mess with people's heads by announcing things and not releasing them; I'm sure he's more disappointed then anyone when something like the 7 of 9 figure or the Godfather Minimates don't make it into our hands.

[karamazov80]

Nah Nessex, that was a paraphrase, sorry

But the spirit was surely there, IMO. Here is a direct quote:

The place that characters like "Batman" and "Scarecrow" call home, culturally? What about the debt they owe to us for loaning them our characters, so that they can further their artistic and financial success?

I think that explains why exclusives to thank Asian customers are not only a bad idea (with rude and thankless implications to the rest of us), but why the use of Bat-Demon and Scarecrow to do so adds further insult-to-injury (hence my comment about them being "our" characters).

Edited December 21, 2010 by karamazov80

[Nessex]

Sorry - got my 'high & mighty' on for a moment there. . .

The racial thing gets me really wound up sometimes.

Back on topic: I think Chuck did a freaking superb job of explaining to 'Ed' just how it is with more respect than he probably deserved and just enough 'stick it' to to let Ed know how unreasonable he was being.

[dr baghead]

If you've got a good half hour or so, you can read the fifth question and see why Chuck deserves some cookies when you see him.

I love that the questioner's dream line-up to get fans excited, after saying like twelve times "'NEW' is not another Kirk!" has FOUR 7-of-9's (that's 28-of-36!!!)

I know Jeri Ryan was a big deal back when Voyager was actually on TV... but is she even a thing any more? Like, is she even in anything people watch? Why are four 7-of-9's going to sell but a new Kirk or Spock is a terrible idea?

also, I like the notes on "dead on head sculpt!" and "killer paint ops are a must!" like I get that the toys at market never look as nice as the prototypes, but I've never once suspected it was a case of manufacture CHOOSING to make the head sculpt look nothing like the actor or just slopping awful drippy paint on and calling it a night... not even when it was a Mattel figure! (Maybe he meant "Hot Toys level quality" like that's even possible for 7in figures, but it still seems odd requesting something like "make the figure look nice and like the characters!" when you'd think that was the main point of the toy line all along)

[buttheadsmate]

Although I get disappointed with some of the decisions made by DST I can honestly say that I haven't lost too much sleep over it. I love & support their product & have once or twice confused that with thinking that I might be owed or deserved something......I don't. What does annoy me immensely though is the fact that Minimates could be doing so much better than they actually are. Before I'm besieged by statistics about how well they've done up until now & did I know this or that ......."better than they actually are" was my statement. I genuinely believe that Minimates could actually be something more than 'cute','niche' or a 'TRU line' .....they could be a phenomenon .

[MiniFiend UK]

Although I get disappointed with some of the decisions made by DST I can honestly say that I haven't lost too much sleep over it. I love & support their product & have once or twice confused that with thinking that I might be owed or deserved something......I don't. What does annoy me immensely though is the fact that Minimates could be doing so much better than they actually are. Before I'm besieged by statistics about how well they've done up until now & did I know this or that ......."better than they actually are" was my statement. I genuinely believe that Minimates could actually be something more than 'cute','niche' or a 'TRU line' .....they could be a phenomenon .

Are you going for a western version of Kubricks. I think it should be the companies beating a path to the minmate door to get their products used. Ahh in a perfect world and such.

[buttheadsmate]

First of all Minimates have ,in most respects, left kubricks behind .

In the 'perfect world' that we speak of companies should literally be banging on DST's door & I've concluded that the profit margins involved are so tiny (for everybody) that very few holding a licence wants to put the effort in unless it is all done for them, Halo would be the supreme example.

Another example would be Doctor Who, I am not an obsessional Who fan & if I were I'm not sure I'd be grateful for a new line of Lego-like 'Who' figures that nobody was familiar with. People this side of the Atlantic ,bar a few of us, wouldn't know what a Minimate is ......so what did Underground Toys expect in their supposed market research ? More people your side of the Atlantic know what Minimates are (niche) & know what Doctor Who is (niche) ....niche+niche=not happening.

The cycle has to be broken & I hope that Disney will be the way forward.

Can it be coincidence that some of the best looking Minimates I have ever seen........ which appear to be faultless in quality in comparison to some of the sh*te we have had lately ......get sold at Disney. I appreciate that 'Disney' might not be held in such esteem as it once was but it's still 'up there' .

Coming back to Doctor Who & speaking completely rationally ......if I could acquire the rights to produce a Doctor Who Minimate box-set , a Max Tardis & a Minimate Dalek I would pay for the production myself . I wouldn't care if I broke even & I'm not even sure if I would care if I made a loss . Can anyone believe that they wouldn't sell?

Edited December 21, 2010 by buttheadsmate

[MiniFiend UK]

BHM I agree with you all the way. Every time I think on Minimates in the UK I think of one person I just keep thinking if we can get this person into/behind Minimates then the stores would be clamouring to stock them. Now dont laugh that person is Jonathan Ross.

The guy is a major toy and comic geek. If he just mentioned them somewhere that there is this cool format/line of figures out and it would get back to the stores.

Show him a Dr Who custom and I think he would have a nerdgasm.

[buttheadsmate]

Wossy is my first choice of 'He who must be approached' & always has been . Amazing

His missus is Jane Goldman .......check out who wrote the screenplay for Kick-Ass & X-Men First Class....

[karamazov80]

Jonathan Ross

I googled this guy. Apparently, he's got a 1990s hairdo.

[youbastards]

His missus is Jane Goldman .......check out who wrote the screenplay for Kick-Ass & X-Men First Class....

You forgot to mention the screenplay for Stardust, one of the most underappreciated films of the last decade!

Among some of her other <ahem> assets.

[groundhog7s]

Among some of her other <ahem> assets.

Stocks and bonds?

[karamazov80]

No, I think he's referring to her huge boobies.

[NorthRaider]

If you've got a good half hour or so, you can read the fifth question and see why Chuck deserves some cookies when you see him.

Forget the cookies, I think I want to buy him a beer or a puppy or something.

What does annoy me immensely though is the fact that Minimates could be doing so much better than they actually are. Before I'm besieged by statistics about how well they've done up until now & did I know this or that ......."better than they actually are" was my statement. I genuinely believe that Minimates could actually be something more than 'cute','niche' or a 'TRU line' .....they could be a phenomenon .

Personally I'm of the opinion that barring the more regrettable QC issues we'd been having lately, Minimates are already one of the better toy lines released at this scale. Of course that still doesn't account for the vast majority of consumers out there that still think $4 block figures are silly, but given my undying interest in mini-figures in general and the sort of mass-market product that is available these days, I really do wish that whatever else us collectors might be up to a few years down the line, Minimates would still be available and Marvel might even be up to Wave 87 or something...

In the 'perfect world' that we speak of companies should literally be banging on DST's door & I've concluded that the profit margins involved are so tiny (for everybody) that very few holding a licence wants to put the effort in unless it is all done for them, Halo would be the supreme example.

...

The cycle has to be broken & I hope that Disney will be the way forward.

As far as I can see though, DST is still a fairly small company with neither the widescale brand recognition nor endless resources as Hasbro or Mattel, and we loyal fans still have a tendency to overlook how big a hurdle that really is to overcome. It's like trying to convince people that other toy car brands exist besides Hot Wheels or Matchbox. Not saying it's impossible but old consumer habits do die hard and we can't discount how much of an uphill battle this can be for DST, especially now that it appears they're trying to break into the Lego/Playmobil market with stuff like M.A.X., Pirates and Elite Heroes.

[buttheadsmate]

Wave 87 ? I hope so . I cannot conceive the scenario whereby Minimates end completely & are not replaced by something very very similar albeit with a different name or different manufacturer. Another scenario would be 1/35 scale figures with Minimate style articulation . I'm a closet collector of 1/35 Maschinen Krieger figures which are incredibly similar to Minimates in size & 'feel' yet have no articulation & no real resemblance to a block figure . A combination of the two has been tried by Medicom but the Ma.k kubricks didn't really hit the jackpot because of their relatively poor articulation & failure to completely capture the Ma.k look.

For anybody who doesn't know what these Ma.k guys look like..... here's a lazy link http://www.hlj.com/product/YLSAM-012-2 .....eat your heart out HulkBuster !!! I would just love these articulated like Minimates & it would be so very simple.

Sorry to stray away from the topic but let's be fair it had little to do with Minimates initially